Ukraine must take immediate action to stop what amounts to a “systematic persecution” of the country’s Roma minority, who have been targeted in a series of violent attacks allegedly perpetrated by members of extreme right-wing groups, United Nations human rights experts have said.

European Member States must do more to ensure that Roma peoples receive the support necessary to fully enjoy all their basic human rights, an independent United Nations expert said today while acknowledging that States were already headed in the right direction on the issue.

A group of independent United Nations human rights experts today urged the French Government to ensure compliance with international non-discrimination standards when it comes to the dismantling of Roma settlements and the expulsion of migrant Roma.

Two independent United Nations human rights experts today called on all countries, particularly those with Roma communities, to confront modern-day hatred, violence and discrimination against this group and find solutions to their persistent exclusion.